Intersectionality at Work: Autism, Race & Accessibility Explained with Sydney Elaine Butler
Show notes
Get "Liberate Your Business" by Becky Mollenkamp at https://liberateyourbusiness.com/
What if the goal was never "safe" spaces but safer ones? Becky Mollenkamp and Faith Clarke sit down with Sydney Elaine Butler, founder of Accessible Creates. They're a biracial, non-binary, autistic entrepreneur living with chronic pain and complex PTSD, and this is a fantastic conversation about intersectionality, disability inclusion, and what it really takes to let people bring their whole selves to work.
Sydney shares how their childhood role as "the helper" shaped their career supporting people with disabilities, what it's like to code-switch between Black and white spaces as a biracial person, and why so much workplace DEI work stalls out at compliance instead of getting to the people actually living the policies.
In this episode:
- (00:15) Icebreaker: the cartoon character you relate to most (Papa Smurf, Atomic Betty, Encanto's Luisa, and Inside Out 2's Anxiety all make an appearance)
- (06:23) Sydney's full-circle moment speaking at the Canadian Autism Leadership Summit
- (08:16) The story that isn't being told: intersectionality in disability and DEI work
- (10:14) Code-switching as a biracial, non-binary woman — and what safety has to do with it
- (16:23) What changes when we stop collapsing identities and start expanding them
- (23:04) Why so much corporate DEI work stays surface-level — and what real accountability looks like
- (26:16) Sydney's shift from "expert" to focus groups: centering the people living the policy
- (33:06) Safe vs. safer spaces — and why "safe" might be a promise no one can actually keep
- (44:07) Filling your own cup: solitude, boundaries, and unlearning the "selfish" narrative
- (51:41) The Resmaa Menakem story: what happens when a room chooses care over the agenda
- (54:04) A real-time example of building accommodation into a relationship, mid-conversation
- (56:14) Closing ritual: Yes, and... Otherwise
About the guest: Sydney Elaine Butler is the founder of Accessible Creates, working with organizations on disability policy, accessibility, and inclusive workplace practice. Learn more at accessiblecreates.ca.
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